This invention relates in general to ballistic missile systems and, in particular, to deployment of re-entry bodies during the post-boost phase of a mission profile. This invention relates especially to a method for minimizing the perturbation on the most-recently deployed re-entry body from gas dynamic pressure acting on the re-entry body from gases exhausting from the nozzles of the post-boost control system.
In the deployment of a re-entry body from an aerospace platform, the accuracy of the trajectory of the re-entry body is a function of the accuracy of the re-entry body's predicted release velocity from the platform and the velocity perturbations that the re-entry body experiences after release. One of the most important contributions to velocity perturbations on a released re-entry body is from the gases exhausting from the nozzles on the platform as the platform is maneuvered to the next release location. The gases exhausting from the nozzles of the platform form a plume which may impinge on the reentry body if care is not taken to orient the platform to minimize the impingement. If the effect of the plume is predictable, compensation can be implemented for the resulting velocity perturbations. However, if the reentry body is impinged upon by an unmodelable portion of the plume, an unpredictable velocity may be imparted to the re-entry body causing a degradation in the predicable accuracy of the re-entry body's trajectory. This is especially troublesome when several nozzles are involved because the area between the nozzles where the gases from the nozzles mix is unmodelable.